The new SL homepage machinima? What do you think?

[Ayashe Ninetails]

Landing page background video was absolutely everywhere years ago. That's an old technique that's still a pretty hot trend in web design and branding.

Browse sites of architecture firms, for example. They love that stuff. Big in the personal portfolio arena, too.

I'm guessing the quality gets knocked down quite a bit to optimize for mobile and whatnot. Turning down the brightness is just a stylistic choice to keep text readable. Some sites only slightly dim the video when the actual text appears.

[Marigold Devin]

On 4/21/2023 at 4:24 AM, Chic Aeon said:

I haven't seen any posts on this and since I rarely log into my backend web account these days the new web video may not be that new. 

What I did notice is that I couldn't really RELATE at all -- "at all" should be in caps I think.   This was not my SL or even close to what I think of as SL. And most of the avatars didn't look all that great. There was one impressive clip of a horse being turned around in a circle but aside from that I was not enthralled (maybe 100 machinimas in all under my belt but I am really speaking simply as a "citizen").  

 

I am just wondering what other folks think.    There WERE some outstanding entry videos made for Sansar so I know The Lab  does understand something about all this :D.

 

https://secondlife.com/

 

I couldn't relate to any of it at all, although I may have come in as a furry had this video been the first information I'd received about Second Life. As it was I joined because of a newspaper/magazine article about it, long before such videos could be created in world. 

The horses looked quite good. I think the video should be a bit longer, be a bit (lot) more representative of what is available in Second Life. I am really not sure who they are aiming it at going on the video on the Second Life homepage. Looks a bit juvenile really to me.

[Love Zhaoying]

10 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Landing page background video was absolutely everywhere years ago. That's an old technique that's still a pretty hot trend in web design and branding.

Browse sites of architecture firms, for example. They love that stuff. Big in the personal portfolio arena, too.

I'm guessing the quality gets knocked down quite a bit to optimize for mobile and whatnot. Turning down the brightness is just a stylistic choice to keep text readable. Some sites only slightly dim the video when the actual text appears.

Puts me in mind of MySpace.  At least they don't play a song.

[Marigold Devin]

On 4/21/2023 at 6:58 AM, Persephone Emerald said:

I thought it was fine. I don't why some people on this forum have to be so picky.

I like that you thought the video was fine. It balances out my picky opinion. I'm feeling a bit picky today, some days I just sit on my hands or am a bit more ... diplomatic I think the word might be.

The OP asked for opinions. I added how I felt after watching it for the first time, but imagining if it would have enticed me to join Second Life had that been the first thing I seen. The furry people at the beginning were very cute to me, but the dancing in clubs looked soulless and I'm not keen on clubs in real life so that aspect wouldn't have enticed me into Second Life.

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by Marigold Devin

[Marigold Devin]

On 4/21/2023 at 2:51 PM, Love Zhaoying said:

Interesting to me, that in the still of the video, her (assumed gender) big dewey eyes APPEAR to reflect something - but we know that's not a real thing yet.

Nicely spotted! I went back to look.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

6 minutes ago, Marigold Devin said:

The furry people at the beginning were very cute to me, but the dancing in clubs looked soulless and I'm not keen on clubs in real life so that aspect wouldn't have enticed me into Second Life.

I used to practically live in RL clubs and...yeah, that's an environment I don't personally feel SL is very good at capturing.

To be fair, it's really hard to mimic that scene in an online space to begin with, but I've seen some virtual clubs and events on other platforms that definitely got quite a bit closer.

[Marigold Devin]

2 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I used to practically live in RL clubs and...yeah, that's an environment I don't personally feel SL is very good at capturing.

To be fair, it's really hard to mimic that scene in an online space to begin with, but I've seen some virtual clubs and events on other platforms that definitely got quite a bit closer.

The trouble is with virtual reality clubs is you can't capture the actual essence just by watching a bunch of avatars being moved with similar dance animations. With real life clubs of course people break away into different groups, some at the bar, a few dancing together in one space, people seated at tables, chatting in corners, etc. Hard to get onto video how much imagination and immersion is needed, but at least as others have pointed out, the quality was realistic, possibly toned down for those who haven't got all singing all dancing graphics, and those accessing via phones. 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

6 minutes ago, Marigold Devin said:

The trouble is with virtual reality clubs is you can't capture the actual essence just by watching a bunch of avatars being moved with similar dance animations. With real life clubs of course people break away into different groups, some at the bar, a few dancing together in one space, people seated at tables, chatting in corners, etc. Hard to get onto video how much imagination and immersion is needed, but at least as others have pointed out, the quality was realistic, possibly toned down for those who haven't got all singing all dancing graphics, and those accessing via phones. 

Exactly the issue I have with it. The bar is usually overflowing with people socializing, and when I used to go to SL clubs, that was the most empty spot (if there was a bar at all). No drinks, no bartender. Same with tables and lounges or people schmoozing with the DJs. Lighting, effects, etc. Some of it is just missing. Maybe things have gotten better - I stopped hanging out in SL clubs a long time ago. But back then - nah. Just wasn't giving me the same vibes.

I still think the video overall is good, but the activities do seem a bit random. But then, so is SL - so that's not necessarily a bad thing.

[Love Zhaoying]

Did they successfully capture the zeitgeist of Second Life, or is that a fool's errand, being forever ineffable?

[Jaylinbridges]

15 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

They did such a good job embedding it, I couldn't see any obvious source under F12 in Chrome (although I'm not a web developer), etc.

Not sure what you mean by source.  The video is stored on this cloud file server below and is pretty clear in the HTML.  This is an MP4 video that starts up immediately when you click on the embedded url in WIn7 and later.  But the SL page blocks the mp4 from auto starting, and leaves the page with the first frame of the video with any Win7 browser.  Still do not know why.

https://assets-global.website-files.com/60a83025d932b623a6a61ff8/642623a110581fdb7142634e_LL Landing Page April 2023-transcode.mp4

 

Quote

<div data-poster-url="https://assets-global.website-files.com/60a83025d932b623a6a61ff8/642623a110581fdb7142634e_LL Landing Page April 2023-poster-00001.jpg" data-video-urls="https://assets-global.website-files.com/60a83025d932b623a6a61ff8/642623a110581fdb7142634e_LL Landing Page April 2023-transcode.mp4,https://assets-global.website-files.com/60a83025d932b623a6a61ff8/642623a110581fdb7142634e_LL Landing Page April 2023-transcode.webm" data-autoplay="true" data-loop="true" data-wf-ignore="true" data-beta-bgvideo-upgrade="false" class="background-video-hero w-background-video w-background-video-atom"><video id="72732b73-51ce-abe3-481b-1ca3bbfcc567-video" autoplay="" loop="" style="background-image:url(&quot;https://assets-global.website-files.com/60a83025d932b623a6a61ff8/642623a110581fdb7142634e_LL Landing Page April 2023-poster-00001.jpg&quot;)" muted="" playsinline="" data-wf-ignore="true" data-object-fit="cover"><source src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/60a83025d932b623a6a61ff8/642623a110581fdb7142634e_LL Landing Page April 2023-transcode.mp4" data-wf-ignore="true"/><source src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/60a83025d932b623a6a61ff8/642623a110581fdb7142634e_LL Landing Page April 2023-transcode.webm" data-wnore="true"/></video></div></div></div></div>

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by Jaylinbridges
the still photo I see is just the first frame of the video

[Love Zhaoying]

1 hour ago, Jaylinbridges said:

Not sure what you mean by source. 

"Source" means "the code". (My 1 attempt failed.) You provided it. Thanks! 

[Teager]

I may be biased on this one, but I personally think that this latest video - and the one before it, which more heavily featured ordinary people in their homes, boating, and hanging out around Bellisseria - are a fantastic move by the lab to feature some of the large communities in second life doing what they do best. To me, showcasing a major community where a new player can meet people with similar interests and find things to do together seems like a great way to go 🙂

[EliseAnne85]

On 4/26/2023 at 9:08 PM, Teager said:

where a new player can meet people with similar interests and find things to do together seems like a great way to go

Having a *sort of discussion* in another thread, I wanted to address something.

This newest video starts out with furries.  If people want to be a furry, Welcome Island should put up a place that is newbie/furry friendly because it's not so easy to be a newbie and find furry-friendly places.  

Something to think about.  

I also agree with the poster in this thread that said if you show furry avatars, there should be a starter furry avatar as well as help in easily finding where a furry can go.  

I haven't been to Welcome Island in years, so I don't know what goes on there.  

But, it could be the same if people pick avatars other than human, even vampire or dragon or whatever, where are they supposed to go when newbies know nothing?

[Lindal Kidd]

20 hours ago, EliseAnne85 said:

I haven't been to Welcome Island in years, so I don't know what goes on there. 

What goes on at Welcome Island stays on Welcome Island.

But, mostly, people rez in at one end, walk to the other end of the basically U-shaped build, and disappear, never having talked to anyone. Except for when someone is creating bots, then a string of "Kar3n001, Kar3n002, Kar3n003..." people appear and then vanish, never having moved from the arrival point. And a few get stuck. Either they think that's all of SL, or they're off playing Tiny Empires and don't even bother to leave.

[EliseAnne85]

56 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

What goes on at Welcome Island stays on Welcome Island.

But, mostly, people rez in at one end, walk to the other end of the basically U-shaped build, and disappear, never having talked to anyone. Except for when someone is creating bots, then a string of "Kar3n001, Kar3n002, Kar3n003..." people appear and then vanish, never having moved from the arrival point. And a few get stuck. Either they think that's all of SL, or they're off playing Tiny Empires and don't even bother to leave.

Bwaaaaaaah!   I'll have to go see.

Tiny Empires, I can't hardly believe that is still around.  I first heard about Tiny Empires in the 2000's sometime.  The first time I heard about Tiny Empires was when I first heard about X-Street, the precursor to Marketplace.  I never played it though.